[bell rings] >> norah: tonight, the strong jobs report exceeding expectations at a crucial time in the presidential campaign.

will the economy be the deciding factor as america votes? >> the cost of living is a lot. >> hey, folks. >> norah: president biden touts the good economic news in a surprise white house briefing. americans stuck in lebanon as violence continues. we speak to a marine veteran who says he hasn't got an update from the u.s. embassy in days. >> do you feel abandoned by the u.s. government? >> norah: and on this friday night, we go "on the road," with the compassion of community in the wake of hurricane helene. >> we are so strong, and i know that we'll make it. >> norah: the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ good evening. i'm norah o'donnell, and thank you for joining us. we want to begin with new signs of a robust jobs market, with election day fast approaching and the economy and inflation critical issues for voters. tonight, the labor department reports an unexpectedly large surge in new job creation, with employers adding 254,000 jobs

in september. that is far above what was projected by economists. it's also the largest monthly increase since march. unemployment also ticked lower to 4.1%. the numbers were so strong that joe biden did something he's never done before as president: %-@e a victory lap. cbs's jo ling kent is breaking down the numbers for us. good evening, jo ling. so good to see you. so, what does the surge in new jobs tell about the economy and what did we find out about who is doing all the hiring? >> reporter: norah, this was a blockbuster jobs report, blowing past expectations. the most jobs were added in hospitality, bars and restaurants, health care, government, and social assistance. but not every single voter is feeling this good news. [bell rings] it was a welcome october surprise for the economy. the september jobs report added the most jobs since march, dramatically beating wall street's expectations, with the unemployment rate ticking down. hourly wages jumped 4% over the

last year, outpacing inflation. president biden today taking credit... >> we were told time and again that the policies we were pursuing, we'd put forward, weren't going to work, make things worse, including some on the other team are still saying they're going to make things worse. but we've proven them wrong. >> reporter: while former president trump has been campaigning on his administration's economic record. >> inflation has devastated our economy. it's one of the big problems we have. >> reporter: overall, the average unemployment rate has been lower in the biden administration, while the average inflation rate was lower under trump. >> well, i have applied for unemployment. >> reporter: voter lisa whitney in southern california was laid off from her job in july. >> i'm left paying with my health insurance and my other utilities and my car payment now, which is basically, when you add those all up is what i get from unemployment, but then i'm still paying my mortgage and my property taxes and my

homeowner's insurance. >> reporter: how has all of this impacted your family and what you're able to do? >> it's a big deal. >> reporter: do you think you're better off now than you were when president biden first took office? >> i'm not better off now, no. >> reporter: whitney plans to vote for trump in november as she goes into the fourth month of her job search. >> i would like to see a president that really supports employees. i want to be working. i want to care for my daughter. there's a lot of expenses. >> reporter: it just -- it's like the hits keep coming. >> yes. >> reporter: looking ahead, the next jobs report will come out just four days before the election, and there's a lot of global uncertainty on the horizon. the escalating conflicts in the middle east could push oil prices higher, as well as the economic impact of hurricane helene. norah? >> norah: jo ling kent with all that news, thank you so much. tonight, cbs news has obtained a bulletin from the fbi and department of homeland security

warning domestic extremists with election-related grievances could turn violent ahead of election day. now, that comes as both president biden and donald trump were asked about the peaceful transfer of power today. we have team coverage, beginning with cbs's nikole killion in georgia, where trump was today. good evening, nikole. >> reporter: good evening, norah. this is former president trump's second visit to hurricane-ravaged georgia this week, but the political storm surrounding his fraught relationship with republican governor brian kemp garnered much of the attention, although both men appear to have put aside their differences for now. in a rare joint appearance, former president donald trump and georgia governor brian kemp were side-by-side for a briefing on hurricane helene. >> done a really good job. >> reporter: it was the first time trump and kemp have appeared together since 2020 when the former president tried to pressure state officials to overturn the results of the election and was later indicted by a georgia grand jury. >> i just want to find 11,780

votes. >> reporter: this summer, the former president lashed out at kemp at an atlanta rally. >> he is the most disloyal guy i think i've ever seen. >> reporter: but today, he had nothing but praise. >> we've always worked together very well. >> reporter: the fence-mending comes amid renewed concern about the november election, with president biden issuing this warning. >> i'm confident it will be free and fair. i don't know whether it will be peaceful. >> reporter: do you agree -- >> i don't know anything about what he said. i only can hope it is going to be free and fair, and i think in this state it will be, and i hope in every state it will be and i think we are going to do very well. >> reporter: meantime, vice president kamala harris stumped in battleground michigan. >> we will not be gaslighted. donald trump's track record is a disaster for working people. >> reporter: her campaign announced former president barack obama will be part of a campaign blitz across battleground states in the final month, as both campaigns ramp up

their efforts. >> reporter: i'm caitlin huey-burns in butler, pennsylvania, where security is high because former president trump will be here for a rally at the same site where he survived an assassination attempt back in july. u.s. secret service has expanded the security perimeter and will have personnel stationed inside and outside of that zone, including on the roof of the shed where the shooter fired on july 13th. those shots killed corey comperatore, who died shielding his family from the bullets. he will be honored here on saturday. supporters are already on site. >> this is butler. we don't stand down. we stand up. >> reporter: and the rally site right behind me is already locked down. authorities say they are expecting over 25,000 people to be in attendance here, including the billionaire elon musk. norah? >> norah: caitlin huey-burns in pennsylvania and nikole killian in georgia. thank you. tonight, the death toll from hurricane helene keeps rising.

at least 225 people are dead now across six states, and the full scope of the destruction is only now coming into focus. in the mountains of north carolina, entire towns are swamped, buried under mud and debris. and now a big question is how to start cleaning up. cbs's manuel bojorquez is there. >> reporter: downtown marshall, north carolina, was swallowed by catastrophic flooding. now what remains is covered in a thick coat of mud and debris that's considered hazardous. ben phillips is shoveling it out of his home. what's it like to see all your things out here like this? >> it's heartbreaking. everything we had in that house. >> reporter: this area is not known for flooding. the north carolina flood map shows marshall with only a 1% chance. out of more than 8,000 properties in the county, only 98 had flood insurance. you have flood insurance? >> yeah. >> reporter: but i think you're probably in the minority -- >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: a lot of people did not. >> they were saying that the businesses downtown, only about

two of them had flood insurance and that almost nobody else did. >> just decimated this whole area. >> reporter: 55 miles east in old fort, this satellite image shows the water's disastrous path. we got a closer look on the ground. these manufactured homes were not originally here. they were pushed by the sheer force of the water. and it's not just people's homes. you can see this shed, even vehicles, and based on the water line there, the water would have reached up to my head. down the street, pastor kimberly baker and volunteers are cleaning up mud by the barrelful at the united methodist church. >> and you can see how deep it is to the altar. >> reporter: for 24 hours, 4 to 5 feet of water flowed through the church before receding. >> we didn't have flood insurance because we've never -- >> reporter: never flooded. >> never needed it. >> reporter: now there is nothing to do but clean up and count their blessings. >> we're still here. >> reporter: you're still here. >> and we're going to be here. and we're going to come back.

not just the church, but the people. we are going to build this little town back. >> reporter: this year, out of the 4.3 million properties across the state of north carolina, only about 115,000 have a flood insurance policy. norah, the reason people here in marshall are wearing masks and hazmat suits is that there is a sewage treatment facility and a pvc plant both upstream, so the mud and the dust could be toxic. >> norah: manuel bojorquez. thank you for being there and telling their story. president biden was asked by cbs news today whether netanyahu was holding up a peace deal to influence our election. well, the president said he doesn't know. but in the meantime, the fighting rages on against hamas to the south and hezbollah to the north in lebanon, where thousands, tens of thousands of americans are tonight. cbs's imtiaz tyab spoke to a u.s. veteran who is having a hard time getting out. >> reporter: the last time iran's supreme leader led friday prayers in tehran was nearly five years ago.

with the barrel of a machine gun in hand, he had a message for israel. "we did it once," he said. "and we'll do it again." ayatollah khamenei was talking about iran's ballistic missile attack on israel tuesday night. retaliation for the killing of his close ally, hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah, in this massive strike in beirut one week ago. since then, israel has been targeting the group's strongholds relentlessly, devastating civilian areas and displacing more than 1.2 million people. >> and i sat on the living room floor with my wallet, my phone, my passport, just in case at any moment i had to run. >> reporter: shaniyat chowdhury eventually did have to run. the nyu grad student and marine corps veteran was in beirut visiting friends when this happened. >> the building right across from the one that i was living in was struck. >> reporter: was struck? >> yes. >> reporter: the u.s. and

other countries have started evacuating citizens, but chowdhury has had a hard time getting in touch with the american embassy in beirut. have you actually spoken to an actual person at the embassy? >> no. absolutely not. i'm constantly going on twitter looking at the embassy of beirut's twitter page. and they haven't updated anyone the last four or five days. >> reporter: four or five days? >> yes. >> reporter: so you're really in this information black hole. >> yeah. i just feel like they just don't care if you are an american or not. >> reporter: now, chowdhury still has no idea how he will get home, as israeli strikes across lebanon only intensify. so far, over 2,000 people have been killed in the attacks, a figure the u.n. is calling totally unacceptable. norah? >> norah: imtiaz tyab, thank you. nearly one year has passed since the october 7th attacks that sparked the catastrophic war between israel and hamas. to mark the important milestone, a new documentary, "we will dance again," tells the story of october 7th through the eyes

of survivors of the nova music festival and through the bodycam and gopro footage from hamas terrorists obtained by filmmakers. one survivor, eitan, describes how hamas threw grenades into the crowded shelter where he was hiding and then how he threw them back out over and over again, but then hamas opened fire. >> they came back in. [gunshots] and then they started shooting everyone. they left. i looked left and right. and... i thought everyone was acting or playing dead so that they wouldn't get kidnapped. but after a minute or two, when people weren't lifting their heads or waking up, i realized that i was sitting in a pile of bodies. >> norah: "we will dance again" from see it now studios is now streaming on paramount+. that is part of the cbs corporate family. up next, country superstar

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does mark farrell have the right experience to shake up city hall?. in nearly ten years as supervisor, mark grew the bureaucracy by authorizing or creating a commission almost every year. he rubber stamped hundreds of millions to homeless nonprofits with zero accountability and orchestrated a pay-to-play scheme that sold out taxpayers to the highest bidder. mark farrell has all the wrong experience for the change we need. >> norah: one of the tightest races this presidential election is the battle for pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes. it's a state with nearly 9 million registered voters. in 2016, donald trump won pennsylvania by just over 44,200

votes. in 2020, president biden won by a margin of about 80,500 votes. so any issue could make or break either candidate, and in pennsylvania, fracking is divisive. cbs's scott macfarlane digs into the issue. >> reporter: in a new home near her grandkids, mary thought retirement would be worry free in west deer township pennsylvania, near pittsburgh. until she discovered the new neighbor. >> there are a lot of issues with fracking. >> reporter: a planned hydraulic fracturing or fracking facility nearby. it's a big industry in pennsylvania, where they drill and extract a gas goldmine underground. >> there have been many health studies that have shown that fracking is not safe for children and perhaps for seniors. >> reporter: but she acknowledges it's lured money. >> we are not against fracking at all. >> reporter: you don't want it banned? >> i don't want it banned completely, no. i think it can exist in a municipality if there are safe

regulations put in place. >> reporter: trevor samis' company has 150 employees that provide services used in the fracking process. you can get this job, high school degree? >> high school degree, $100,000 a year position. >> reporter: six figures? >> six figures, first year in. >> reporter: the industry estimates fracking has created tens of thousands of jobs here with a bright future. >> we are planned through 2025 as far as drilling programs. >> reporter: all the way through next year? >> all the way through december of 2025. >> reporter: in a race this close in a state so important, neither candidate wants to alienate fracking supporters, and the issue emerged on the debate stage this fall. >> i was the tie-breaking vote on the inflation reduction act which opened new leases for fracking. >> reporter: vice president harris has pivoted away from a previous stance opposing fracking. trump has urged drilling to expand. >> pumping, fracking, drilling and producing like never before. >> reporter: but even here in pennsylvania, the politics of fracking are complicated.

only some of the state has gas available to be fracked, and our latest cbs news polling shows voters are split. 56% of pennsylvania voters support it. 44% do not. further complicating the politics, presidents can't ban hydraulic fracking in communities. power resides with local leaders. six states have banned it. in the heat of a close election, candidates are drilling down for every vote they can. scott macfarlane, cbs news. west deer township, pennsylvania. >> norah: up next, steve hartman's "on the road" bringing us hope in the face of hurricane helene's destruction. d you'll leak? well always discreet can hold your biggest gushes with up to zero leaks and odor. so you're not just dry. you're laugh until you cry dry. we've got you, always. always discreet. for people who feel limited by the unpredictability of generalized myasthenia gravis and who are anti-achr antibody positive, season to season,

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hurricane helene turned this slice of heaven into a hellscape. >> oh, god. >> reporter: suzanne garland's family owns the campground. the first time back, she couldn't believe her eyes. [crying] every building, every bit of [crying] every building, every bit of infrastructure erased. >> it was total shock. >> reporter: standing by her side, her husband, jared. >> because it's just mud, trees. >> it just looks like a tornado just ripped everything up and spit it back out. >> reporter: like many ravaged by this storm, the garlands' first inclination was to move. but then, like many, they saw the sunrise. and the morning light worked its magic.

a fire threatening homes, growing 100 acres in just a half-hour. the latest on the firefight as we head into a

dangerous weekend. . a bay area doctor leaves his family and safety behind., once again, to treat the injured as the violence in the middle east amps up. >> i just found i was given the green light to go and help the people of lebanon. and questions about potential missing payments in oakland's coliseum deal? why the mayor told us today it should all be cleared up by next week. a lot of excitement and curiosity at cal as game day takes over the campus for the first time ever. >> we had to come by and see it. how often do you get game day here? hi, i'm sara donchey in for juliette. we begin with a red fl